Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for this ARC!

There were definitely cute moments throughout this book, however, overall it fell flat. I did not feel much for the main character. Her thoughts and actions became somewhat predictable to the point where it got kind of boring. I started losing interest from early on in the book, but I wanted to finish it so that I could give it a fair rating/review. I still think it was a cute read, and I also liked the concept of comparing her love life with different kinds of fairytales. In other words, this book wasn't for me, but I would still be open to reading other titles from this author in the future.

Throwing out the traditional format of a romantic comedy, Luci Adams takes an invigorating and realistic approach with her hilarious debut novel, Not That Kind of Ever After. Mimicking the format of sharing random unorganized thoughts in a diary or a personal conversation with a close friend, Luci puts us into the deep end that is Bella’s witty, sarcastic, and unfiltered mind. We aren’t just a person reading her story, we are right next to her, knowing her thoughts, her feelings, peeking over her shoulder at her text messages, side by side with her, every step of the way.

The story begins how you would least expect it, adding yet another failed attempt of a long list of dates to find her Prince Charming. All Bella wants, asides for being a successful writer, is to have the happily ever after of her parents. Her frustration builds as she witnesses those around her finding their "ones". To add insult to injury, her attempts to become a successful writer are mocked by blank pages and blinking cursors. Frustrated, distraught, and spiraling - Bella decides to take advice from a friend and put her misadventures on paper. Opportunity strikes when Bella learns about a platform for new writers where she can share her dating fiascos with a wider audience. What Bella doesn’t plan on is the wild ride that ensues.

What I liked about this book: I loved the full growth of Bella’s character. The casual approach Luci takes has us following Bella on an (almost) day to day basis. By slowing down her interactions with work, friends, and life in general, we are able to witness the full transformation of who she started as in the beginning of the story and who she ended up being towards the end. We also get to see her “human side” where she grows, fails, learns, and tries again. Luci doesn’t wave a magic wand where Bella has one bad experience and all of a sudden she is born anew. We see her make her transformation, move forward, stumble, and try again - that is realistic growth. We also see the future in the same manner as Bella, we have no idea where the story is going and that mystery keeps the reader captivated. There are so many twists, turns, and unexpected paths that you'll find you almost want to take notes just to keep it straight.

What I loved about the book: The fairytale tie-ins! Seriously, I don't think I can look at certain fairytales the same way ever again. As a reader, you start to enjoy the story even more when you find yourself guessing some of the titles of her chapters.

What I didn’t like about the book: Honestly nothing; however, I don’t believe this book will be for everyone. The book is the inner working of Bella's brain, her “ID”, unfiltered, raw, and honest. We are walked through every single thing that is happening to and around her. For some readers, this may be too much detail, an overabundance of information where they just want to get to the romantic comedy portion of the book. This also creates a very slow moving story. The first several chapters are the span of just 1-2 days (following the text message dates help you know where you are in the week). There also isn't a clear path of the story so if you are someone who needs direction, again the format may be off-putting.

What I am indifferent about but feel I should mention: While the format of the book may change, if it doesn’t - I was a little lost on the “parts” of the book. Again this may change upon publishing so I won’t go much further into it but if it remains, I feel I need to reread it just to understand the significance of splitting it into parts and chapters.

Putting a side-splitting twist on some fairytale favorites, Not That Kind of Ever After reminds us that fiction exists as a basis of entertainment, but not a model of life. We aren’t flawless princesses looking for our Prince Charming. Life isn’t perfect and neither are we. We are flawed, we are real, and we are simply people looking for someone who sees us for who we are, good and bad, and still wants to be with us. That is what makes a true ever after.

This book isn't for me DNF.





*************I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest opinion.******************

I found this novel to be a fun albeit serious one. Fun because of the almost neurotic urgency of the main character, Bell, to achieve her goals. Serious because her relationship with her best friend forever becomes jeopardized by Bella’s actions. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think that this was cute but I did find myself losing interests occasionally in the story. I would rate it almost a 4 except for the fact that I couldn't get through it in one sitting. But I did think the MC was charming and would recommend to some friends who would be able to maintain their focus on the book!

This was a quick read for me. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters. The only downside (why 3 stars instead of higher) is that you learn so much just from reading the "back of the book" blurb. I would love it if the author had added about 40 more pages to give each character a little more development.

This was so enchanting!
Bella, an aspiring writer, is looking for her Prince Charming but isn’t having much luck! With her dating app fails, she decides to start writing about her dating woes and goes viral!
Throughout this book, Bella has several not so happy endings with her fairytale like adventures.

Just when she thinks she wont ever find Prince Charming, she finally does.

I loved the fairy tale like stories throughout the book and truly enjoyed this book so much I read it whenever possible.

This is one of those books that would be a hilarious movie to watch and I’m here for it.

I despise the main character and thought she acted younger than she was thats why i had to put it down and DNF it. I couldnt get past 30% i tried for the life of me but i could take another second of the characters

ARC REVIEW
Not That Kind of Ever After by Lucie Adams

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A truly delightful, laugh out loud, page turner

🧚Bella is tired of dating duds looking for her Prince Charming. But when a random hook up inspires a fairy tale look at modern London dating, she finds her writing career falling into place. Will finding her happily ever after be as easy as looking right in front of her?

🧚 This was such a cute read! Here is what I loved.

🧚 The crazy dating. Omg. Some of these dates (and men) had me laughing so hard. Talk about crazy situations. And Bella’s reactions to them were hilarious. I loved the fairy tale connections.

🧚Bella. Some may say she’s too flawed and selfish, but I loved that about her. She needed a place to start in order to show her growth as a person. She honestly reminded me of Fleabag. I was rooting for her, even if she did something cringeworthy. I wanted her to find herself and her happy ending.

🧚 Marty. I’m in love with this man. He is genuine and truly cares for Bella. But is also funny. He is straight up book boyfriend material!!

All in all, this was a perfect British romcom that had heart (I totally cried at times) and humor.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC book in exchange for an honest review.

Release: 3/14

A lower-end review coming in hot for this book. I would say this book is three stars for me. This book did not hold my interest as much as I would have liked. The cover art is suburb. The book seemed like every other plot about romance. This is a cute book that would be good for a quick read but this is not something I would fan over like most others. The characters did not entertain me. This was a cute and funny book but not one I want on my shelf after reading this. For those wanting a cute little laugh, this is the book for you.

This book was a different kind of fairy tale and I really did enjoy it. I wasn’t sure what direction Bella was going to or how she was going to act which made me want to read more. In the middle, as we continued to get hook up after hook up, I did start to wonder when the plot would pick up again with a little more thickness and it eventually did. I loved Marty so much and wish there was more of him! I also wanted more at the end. The story ended as soon as the questions were answered, which is good - but what’s next??? Do we get a sequel? Because I want to know what happens as their story progresses! (Don’t want to give spoilers!) what a fun read, it was a refreshing change!

DNFing. Not invested in the story and the book’s rating is so abysmally low on Goodreads that I have no interest in continuing.

*2.75*
This was a decently cute story and I read through it quickly but It didn’t pull me into the story and often found myself drifting away thinking about something else instead of being lost in the story.

Thank you netgalley and st martins for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not That Kind of Ever After was not for me, but I think plenty of other romance readers will enjoy it. Sometimes, too much of a good thing is truly too much and this was the case for the steamy content in the book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This rom com grabbed me instantly and felt very relatable! I finally feel seen! It's hard to be the single friend who watches all your friends "moving on" with their lives and you feel a bit left behind despite kissing all the frogs. Having your best friend suddenly have a different best friend is not a hurt that goes away easily. It also wasn't totally obvious where the story was going the whole time, so it was fun to go along for the ride trying to figuring out what Bella would do. I wish we had an epilogue (or maybe a sequel) so we get a little more of Bella's happy ending.

I think this book will be a hit with all the late 20s/early 30s single people who feel a bit disenchanted by romance and dating apps.

Oh My Gosh I sure hope I was not like Bella when I was younger. She is a bit of a mess. Bed hopping, all wrapped up in herself and oblivious to even her best friend's life. She wants to be a writer but spends her day on her phone. That is so 2022 isn't it. The parents in crisis was not about her either though her take on it was self centered. The ending was nice and not expected. I had to keep reading to see what crazy thing she would be up to next. An entertaining story.

I liked the book, but when it was over I felt like I couldn’t remember much! I need to re-read but overall I thought it was good. It’s hard to find a new take on fairytales and I thought this was a great attempt.

Woah, talk about a STEAMY mix of fairytales! I LOVED this book for a lot of different reasons. One is that I can totally relate to the main character's, Bella Marble, complex view of dating. Of course you want to find your Prince Charming (but do you really?), but honestly how many frogs do you have to kiss to find the one that will transform in front of your eyes? When Bella decides to listen to her friends' advice by just having fun, she finds herself in quite unique situations. These are just too juicy not to share, so Bella starts posting to a website where authors can post one chapter of their writings for others to read. it is fairly anonymous, so it leaves the freedom for Bella to talk about her life uninhibited, If she gets likes and follows along the way, that is even better.

I also loved that this twist on the idea of a happily ever after wasn't based on just one fairytale. There MULTIPLE fairytales involved, and each one got steamier and steamier. I have a particular favorite one Luci Adams uses, but I won't spoil it for other readers by divulging which tales are included.

Luci has created an engaging, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking book that conveys what it is like to be in your 20s and 30s when it seems like everything is changing, and you just can't get a break, Oh, and a lot of sexual awakening isn't a bad thing either. So, grab this book, hop into the land of dreams coming true, and enjoy!

This book follows Bella as she navigates many life changes at once - her best friend getting engaged and moving out, a horrible dating life, new flatmates, and her parents divorcing. She decides to start writing about her dating mishaps and goes viral. This is a journey of self discovery - and while it’s predictable, sometimes a light, predictable book is exactly what I need!

This would be a good beach read - very typical “chick lit” book - comforting, a bit funny, some romance, and easy to read.

3.5/5 stars for me ⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

This book just wasn’t for me and honestly I really wanted to like it because the cover was pretty and blue (yes, I have a bias based on color).

The first chapter of this book made me instantly dislike it. I’m not a fan of women or girls lowering their standards or themselves just to achieve something in life. Same for men too, in all fairness. We should all be confident in our choices and respectful of other’s choices. Our main character, Bella lowers her standards so many times for the most unreasonable justifications and I felt like yelling and just DNFing this book.

Bella just didn’t work for me as a main character. There were some parts where I could sympathize and relate with but for the most part I couldn’t. She was always jumping to conclusions, judgmental, selfish and ungrateful. I didn’t like her decisions and when she compared herself to others I also didn’t like that. Everyone has their own story to write; we shouldn’t compare ourselves with someone else’s story.

The rest of this book flew by in confusion for me. There were so many characters mentioned but none expanded on or developed enough that I could understand the relationship. They also weren’t very helpful in progressing the story and I’m not sure I made the connection on their relevance to the story. The plot and ending just didn’t work for me. It felt a bit rushed and all over the place by trying to connect everything without any real meaning or flow.

Overall this was an okay book but nothing too memorable for me. It has a lot of sex scenes that I felt it didn’t even need. The romance was okay and it did have a happily ever after which was sweet.